


Sleeping Beauty

by montegobae



Category: K-pop, LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/F, Fluff, One Shot, Why?, because i was mf BORED, chuu is a minor character, haseul is a confident gay, heejin's name is mentioned one (1) time lol, kim lip is a fat nerd, lipseul - Freeform, movie theater, slight crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 18:37:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17371220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/montegobae/pseuds/montegobae
Summary: Haseul has to clean up after a midnight premiere. Jungeun fell asleep in the theater. (Crossposted on AFF)





	Sleeping Beauty

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by lip's early ass bedtime lololol

A stench so repulsive, it just about physically assaulted her senses, clawing at her eyes and singeing her nose hairs. As a hoard of musty men rushed past her out of the once-packed theater, Haseul cursed her job, blinking out tears. Her boss—ever so considerate—assigned her to clean up after the midnight premiere of some nerdy sci-fi movie for which she could not care less. Despite the inconvenient time, Haseul agreed to the task. _Anything for the bag, right?_

Haseul had been told that three other employees would be helping her out, yet she stood outside the deserted theater alone. No other living being was in sight. She was frustrated, not from being flaked on, but because unlike the others, she had failed to realize that maybe this minimum-wage job wasn’t worth a mean boss, boring tasks, and smelly nerd-dudes. At least, that’s why she thought the others didn’t come. With a sigh, she swept her feelings to the side with the broom in her right hand and drew a cross over her body with her left. _Forehead to chest… Shoulder to shoulder…_ Even though God hates the gays, she prayed that He’d have mercy on her tonight.

Fortunately for Haseul, the hoard carried most of their odor out the theater, leaving the inside as an olfactory oasis in comparison. Unfortunately, the theater was absolutely _trashed_. Wadded-up napkins and torn straw wrappers decorated the ground like snow. Every half-eaten discarded bag of popcorn had toppled over, making several little puddles of golden kernels. Despite cupholders attached to every seat, sodas were spilled all over the ground, leaving sticky residue. Not even knowing where to start cleaning, Haseul contemplated dying on the spot right then and there, figuring that Hell itself would be better than this hellscape.

Just as she was about to start cleaning, Haseul spotted someone. They sat near the center of the theater, closer to the side near Haseul. Their body slumped against the seat, unmoving, and brown hair draped over their face. Within seconds, while wielding immense knowledge and maintaining her rationality, Haseul expertly deduced that _oh my fucking god she fucking dead_. She would have yeeted herself out of there, but like a ball on a chain, the bag kept her in her place.

Climbing up the aisle stairs and shuffling between rows of chairs to approach the corpse, regret bounced around her head. _I don’t get paid enough for this I don’t get paid enough for this I definitely do NOT get paid enough for this…_ A headache initially induced by the fetid hoard only grew stronger.

Once close enough, Haseul started reaching towards the body with the stick-end of her broom. As it cautiously inched nearer and nearer, the body continued to exhibit no signs of life and Haseul’s heart pounded harder and harder. Lights still considerably dim, the theater seemed much more befitting for a horror. The fact that the stranger kind of looked like the girl from _The Ring_ definitely did not help. Mere millimeters from their face, Haseul held her breath.

 _Please don’t actually be dead… Dear God, that was a VINE REFERENCE learn how to take a JO_ —

Suddenly, the stranger unleashed a deep, gravelly snore. Such a resounding rumble shook the room, Haseul nearly knocked off balance. Kernels of popcorn were still rolling around as the stranger returned to quiet breathing, and hair fell from their face as their head lolled to the side.

Haseul finally breathed out. _Thank God, they’re just asleep…_

 _…_ **_She’s_ ** _just asleep…_

 _… And_ **_she’s_ ** _kind of_ **_cute_ ** _…_

Underneath the curtain of soft brown hair, the stranger’s face was sharp at the jaw and soft at the cheeks, flawless skin framing a pair of lips painted an enticing red. Judging by the hoard that fled the theater earlier, she was probably the only woman at the nerd-movie’s premiere.

Maybe God really _was_ looking out for Haseul tonight.

Closing her eyes, Haseul took a moment to collect herself and turn on all her charms. Haseul wasn’t one for sports, but she never failed to score.

Then the stranger snored again. Even louder this time. A trail of saliva dribbled from the edge of her lips and dripped from her chin, making a little dark circle on her t-shirt. Haseul grimaced, _That’s kinda gross..._

With a shrug, _She’s still cute tho…_

_… And I should probably wake her up._

Her lips drawn into a smirk, Haseul leaned onto her broom and breathily beckoned, “Hey, honey. Wake up.”

But the stranger didn’t budge.

Haseul frowned and tried again. “C’mon cutie, wake up.” But again, she was met with no reaction. She should’ve guessed that someone who could sleep through an entire movie probably wouldn’t wake up to some greasy flirting clogging their arteries, but she got frustrated anyways.

_Okay, you’re not that cute anymore._

Haseul poked her with her broom. Bluntly, “Hey, get up.”

No response.

 _Poke poke poke_ , a little harder this time. Louder, “Get up!”

Still no response. Now, a sizeable dollop of saliva fell from her chin. _Okay, that’s_ **_really_ ** _gross._

In a last-ditch effort, Haseul basically attacked the stranger with the broomstick, violently jostling their body. Yelling now, “HEY! WAKE UP!”

Finally, the stranger began to stir, rubbing her eyes. She tried to wipe away her spit with the back of her hand but ended up spreading it all over her cheek, making her face glisten under the theater lights. Her perfectly red lips parted as she grumbled, “Huh? Where am I?” Fluttering her eyes open, she took in her surroundings. “I’m at the movies?” Once the realization hit her, she jolted in her seat, blood draining from her face. Suddenly alert, “Oh my gosh, what time is it?!”

“Uh…” Haseul feigned checking the time, looking down at a naked wrist. “Like, a little past 2 A.M.?”

“Gah! Dammit!” The stranger smacked her palms on her face only to get spit all over her hands. As she realized a (pretty) girl just watched her dribble saliva like a leaky faucet all over herself, blood returned to Jungeun’s face as a hot blush, embarrassed. She pulled a bit of her shirt up to wipe the drool off, and Haseul got a little peek of what was hidden underneath.

_Oh… So she’s cute again._

And so, her charms were turned back on.

With the greasiest tone, “Hey, what’s your name?” She curled one end of her lips upwards into a disgusting smirk.

Still cleaning her cheek, “Jungeun.”

“I like that name.”

“And you?”

“I’m Haseul, but...” She rested on the broom, leaning towards Jungeun. And she waited.

“But what?” Face dry, Jungeun looked up at movie-theater-girl.

Suddenly, her mouth went all dry too. Jungeun had to pull her gaze away from Haseul to regain her train of thought. Otherwise, she would’ve gotten lost in her _eyes… So pretty…_

“Why out so late, sweetheart?”

Unable to make eye contact with the pretty girl who _oh my gosh I can’t BELIEVE I just drooled like a gallon of spit RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER I HATE MYSELF_ , Jungeun looked off to the side and huffed. Haseul wasn’t the only reason she was mad at herself. Despite usually being shy around girls like _pretty girl… Pretty movie theater girl, please... M-marry me_ , Jungeun couldn’t contain her frustrations.

“I’ve been waiting to see this movie for years! I was super excited, I even pre-ordered the tickets! And staying up past midnight is pretty hard for me but I drank like four 5-hour energy drinks before coming! I should’ve been awake for, like, 20 hours! Wait…” Jungeun started counting on her fingers. “Four times five is twenty, right?”

Really going for it, “I’m sure it is. You’re probably super smart, aren’t you?” In reality, Haseul would’ve needed all her fingers and toes to solve this equation.

“Oh… Well…” From an embarrassed pink, Jungeun’s face became as red as her lips, and she scratched the back of her head. “I mean, I guess I’m pretty okay… Heh…”

Though Jungeun couldn’t bear to look at her, Haseul kept her eyes steadfastly locked on the other. Masterfully, Haseul confidently strode to the seat next to Jungeun, smoothly pulling it down and sitting on it in a single motion. With Jungeun within arm’s reach, “How come you’re out here all by your lonesome?”

Still venting, “I asked a bunch of people, but nobody I know wanted to see the movie. They all think it’s a… It’s a…” Jungeun turned her head even further away. “ _Nerd movie_ ,” she muttered, a pout forming on her lips.

Without hesitation, Haseul completely lied through her teeth. “I don’t think it’s nerdy at all.”

Finally daring to look up, “... You don’t?”

Haseul shook her head. “In fact, tell me all about your movie.” As if she were lining up a perfect shot, Haseul casually swept one of Jungeun’s stray hairs from her face, tucking in behind her ear. “I want to know what excites you.”

 _HIZZUK_ . Jungeun gulped, her gaze trapped in Haseul’s eyes, _pretty eyes…_ “I mean, okay. Th-that’s one way to say it. Um…” She took a moment, clearing her throat.

“Okay, so. The movie is actually based off of this book, _Voyage to Gemini_ , which is, like, my favorite. I read it when I was in middle school and I’ve probably read it a hundred times since; my copy is actually all beat up from all page turning. I always find something a little new everytime I read it. It’s basically a masterpiece.

“So there’s a war going on between two dimensions opposite one another. And I know what you’re thinking, _Well, how does that even work?_ Well, it’s super intricate; each dimension has their own little militia to not only travel between the dimensions, but travel through _time_ too. See, the book is set super far into the future where technology can mess around with spacetime, which they explain with a bunch of quantum and relativity mumbo-jumbo that I’m still trying to learn! I’ve spent way too many hours on Reddit trying to figure it out... Anyways, the dimensions start messing with each other by _going back in time_ and preventing each other’s attacks; some really cool stuff happens. But anyways, the main character, Heejin, she finds out that long, long ago, the dimensions lived as _one!_ And guess what they were called! Guess!” Before Haseul could even process her words, “They were _Gemini_ ! Twin dimensions! Oh, and you’re probably also wondering, _Why would twin dimensions fight each other anyway?_ Well…”

Like a faucet turned on full, the words couldn’t stop flowing out from her. As Jungeun went on and on, her rhythm began to align with Haseul’s. She grew more comfortable, her face returning to a normal color. No one had ever asked her about _Voyage to Gemini_ before. No one ever seemed to care about this part of her… Except for Haseul. And it was _nice_. Finally, she could be who she really was, no fronting. It had been long since she’d been authentic like this.

On the other hand, Haseul’s intentions to woo the girl slowly faded, steadily replaced by genuine interest. Sure, hearing Jungeun yawn in between sentences as she struggled to stay awake this late was absolutely adorable. However, moved by Jungeun’s evident passion, Haseul found herself falling not only for the girl, but for the story too. For all of its intricacies, the biggest plot twist _Voyage to Gemini_ managed to pull off was finally being able to convince Haseul that _maybe… Nerds_ **_do_ ** _deserve rights…_

_Or maybe this chick is just super hot._

“Anyways.” Several minutes later, Jungeun was still droning on. “It’s my own personal interpretation, but I’m pretty sure the Virgo episode was an allegory for the LGBTQ experience, since—”

 _The shot’s wide open._ “Speaking of LGBTQ experience,” Haseul interrupted. “Would you happen to have any?”

Jungeun practically choked on the question. “Excuse me,” she rasped. “ _What???_ ”

Haseul’s smirk returned, even grosser than before. “You heard me, babe.”

“ _BABE”??? HELLO??? PANIC!!!_ Jungeun almost became frantic. Fortunately, Jungeun’s internal screams fell on deaf ears, and somehow, she even appeared kind of _confident_. “I mean, if I understand what you’re asking… Then yes.”

“Excellent.” Her breath condensing on Jungeun’s warm cheeks, Haseul prepared for a touchdown. “So, how about you head home soon, get some shut-eye, then come back to the theater Sunday afternoon… With _me_? My treat.” Pointing to her nametag reading “HAUSEL,” she reassured Jungeun, “Employee discount.”

Rife with inner conflict, _C’MON JUNGEUN. DON’T FREEZE UP ON HER LIKE THIS. SAY YES, YOU IDIOT._ Still, Jungeun had to know for certain, “... Are you asking me out on a date?”

“Yes.” With much less grease, Haseul smiled softly, letting her teeth peek through.

“... Then yes. Sunday afternoon.”

“Sunday afternoon.” In sync, they nodded, yet to break eye contact. As their heads stilled, Haseul began to lean over the armrest between them. Despite a million thoughts running through her mind, Jungeun focused only on mirroring Haseul’s motion, making her own voyage to meet her in the middle.

So close, if Jungeun could have manipulated spacetime, she would have kissed her. And kissed her again. And again.

But she’d have to wait until Sunday.

Once they exchanged numbers, they finally parted with a “See you later,” Jungeun stumbling out of the theater in a slight daze. Haseul kept smiling to herself long after Jungeun had left. _Nothing but net_.

There were many things Haseul didn’t know. She didn’t know much about how sports worked, nor math. She still didn’t understand much of the plot for _Voyage to Gemini_ . And she definitely had no idea how she was going to clean up that trashed theater by herself, but if she wanted to keep that employee discount, _I better get started_. Broom in hand, there was one thing Haseul knew.

 _God really_ **_does_ ** _care about the gays._

Finally, with no one else in the theater, Haseul dabbed on ‘em.

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> maybe i'll write about their sunday date someday.......maybe
> 
> (LMAO just realized i left out a whole plot point i-)
> 
> pls lmk your thoughts either in the comments or on twitter!
> 
> twt: @yeojinakgae_


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